Valuing the shipment at a far more modest $79,310, UNDP said in a statement that the methadone represented “a life-saving treatment for people who inject drugs.”
“It was intercepted in Moscow after being wrongly labelled. UNDP is in touch with authorities in Russia to resolve this matter and is available to answer their questions,” it said in a statement issued in Dushanbe. Russian customs authorities said the 2,000 vials of methadone, which are now in storage at Vnukovo, had not been declared by the transporter.
Methadone is an addictive opioid but is not taken via injection and is used in supervised programs for drug users to avoid injections and thus eliminate the risk of contracting the HIV virus from contaminated syringes. Russia, however, bans methadone replacement therapy for drug addicts, in a hugely controversial stance due to the severity of the spread of HIV in the country since the fall of the Soviet Union.the percentage of people living with HIVTajikistan, which shares a long border with Afghanistan, has long been a transit hub for opioids bound for Russia and Europe.